Weddings in Turkey

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Your affidavit must be taken to a British Notary in the UK, once notarised you send the notarised affidavit to the Foreign and Commonwealth office who put the Apostille and mail it back to you. I did mention this with an FCO link in my post of 17 October.

In Turkey both your documents are translated then taken to the governors office to be legalised

The Iranian Embassy may play ball and legalise her documents if not, fill out the same affidavit as you did and your fiancee will swear it in front of a Turkish notary.

You seem to have forgotten your health certificates you must both have blood tests, the marriage office can give you the address of hospitals that do these tests. The blood tests are usually done the same day.

Just for future reference I have spoken to the High Commission in Nicosia and as I thought they do not process Affidavits. They have over the last year reduced many of their services including processing of passport renewels and visa applications. In fact I am not quite sure what they do actually do anymore.

So I guess its a trip to Istanbul in the next few weeks. Depending on how long the Affidavit is valid for.

Shell232, I have two suggestions, to save the trip to Istanbul, you can use the same affidavit from the British government website have it notarised in the Republic Cyprus and as they are party to the Hague Convention they can put the Apostille put on the document.

Secondly call the marriage office in mainland Turkey and ask them if they will accept a local notary in the Turkish Republic of Cyprus to notarise your documents. Its worth a try.

By the way the British Consulate in Cyprus website is still showing that they offer notarial services for marriage etc. Money for old rope working in an embassy !

My marriage is fast approaching (December) and I want apply for a visitor while we wait to apply for a spouse visa. I cant apply for spouse visa until April because my savings will reach the 6 month mark then. The question is if refused the visit visitor will it affect the possible outcome spouse visa? Also is considered by the officials that overstaying on a visit visa and prejudicing a spouse visa a compelling reason to return?

I do not recommend you apply for a visit visa, it is highly likely to be refused as they will think you wife is trying to circumvent the immigration rules by not returning. It can then affect the spouse application.You need to go to Turkey or somewhere else to vist your wife to show the strength of your relationship.

I am not sure what you mean by your savings. You don't need savings you need 6 months payslips and six months bank statements to demonstrate you earn £18,600 over a six month period.

Thanks for your reply, I have obviously received bad advice from my previous lawyer concerning the visitors visa who had an initial advice from. I dont meet the financial requirements regarding income which is why I have to go down the savings route. I was advised to asked my dad for an early inheritance so I could meet the financial condition. He agreed to this and paid it into my account on 30 sept. meaning 30th march would be six months. She told me in the mean time I could apply for the family visa visa but if your saying this is a bad idea I would do nothing to prejudice our chances. I have been to Turkey twice with her so far and will go again in December to marry.

I would never advise a client to apply for a family visit visa purely because of the reasons I gave in my previous post. Of course if there were extenuating or compassionate circumstances, then an application could be made.

This is an example of what I think you mean by the savings route:_

If your earnings are £15,000 per annum that is a shortfall of £3,600 from the mandatory £18,600

You then multiply the £3,600 by 2.5 which equals £9,000

The next requirement is £16,000 savings to which you add the £9,000 this makes a total of £25,000

So you must have £25,000 in savings, is this what you mean ?

You must declare where this gift of cash came from. Here is what the rules say.

(iii) gift of cash savings (whose source must be declared) evidenced at paragraph

1(a)(iii), provided that the cash savings have been held by the person or persons

at paragraph 1(a)(iii) for at least 6 months prior to the date of application and are

The reason for applying for a visitor visa was to give my spouse the opportunity to visit her potential homeland while waiting for my savings six month mark, obviously getting more face time for us would be helpful as its the only condition which could be improved on. It is not my intention to circumvent the rules as I would never run the risk of her being arrested and deported as an illegal immigrant or want to have a life looking over our shoulders all the time, not to mention the fact she could not work or travel. By April we will meet all requirements as set out by the UKBA rules.

Sammy112, whilst you and your spouse have no intention to circumvent the rules, believe me when I say how difficult it would be to separate after living together for six months. Also immigration officers take a different view and are not sympathetic.

Thousands of people come to the UK as a spouse and have never seen the UK before they are granted a spouse visa. Most people who marry non Europeans travel to visit them rather than run the risk of applying for a visit visa. I know this not just as a lawyer but from personal experience albeit many years ago

I understand this totally and was just exploring the options, However, as I am a student, I gave up my job to do a degree.I will be relying on just my savings I received as an early inheritance to meet the financial requirement. Are you saying this isnt possible because it what was recommended as a simpler route? Iwould like to email you a copy of the advice i received if you would be interested. Thanks

Your advice stating that I have no option to proceed in applying for a spouse visa seems to be at odds with all the guidelines from gov.uk. In summary I have over the required amount from my inheritance to meet the financial requirement. Why would me being a student have any bearing on this. My dad owns properties, investments bought for me and my siblings and he has given me some of the value of mine in cash so I could get married. In your email you said I cannot totally rely on savings 'As you are at university do you have any income at all? You cannot rely totally on savings.'

I get a loan. Why cant I rely on savings?

The only reason I was interested in a visitor visa was to see my wife while waiting to apply for the spouse visa which I cant apply for until 30th March due to the savings 6 months rule.

Sammy, I have often come across people like you , I give them the benefit of many years knowledge free of charge on this website and by email then suddenly you are the expert and don't like what I tell you.

Being a student has great bearing on your situation because you have NO INCOME Only your savings and student loans. I have provided you with the immigration rules and scenarios via email which you have also ignored.

In my experience I believe the route you have chosen to be fraught with difficulties and I would never advise someone to do this.

...Your advice stating that I have no option to proceed in applying for a spouse visa seems to be at odds with all the guidelines from gov.uk....

Nothing I have said is at odds with the UK immigration rules. You came here seeking advice, I gave it, but in the end do what you want, people often do.

Dear Alethia, Firstly I have certainly not ignored the immigration rules and scenarios which you provided me with and I am yet to find anything that related to students in particular. Can you tell me conclusively why students are exempt from the same rules with which non students are bound by? And why is my money and savings not as good as anyone else s. I worked for years before taken up study. What it seems to me you are saying is that it doesn't matter that you meet the criteria that the government because you are a student. At the end of the day I want to pay my way and do thing properly.

You can not find anything in the immigration rules relating to students in this specific category because its not there and I have told you repeatedly apart from your savings you have no income.

I do not make the immigration rules, I work with them to successfully obtain visas. Immigration is a minefield and a specialist subject that is very complicated.

As I said earlier I would not recommend this route and I really have no more to say on the matter because of the accusatory tone of your last post. this is a forum to assist people not a free legal advice centre. If you don't like my advice go elsewhere.

'Being a student has great bearing on your situation because you have NO INCOME Only your savings and student loans.'

Please elaborate on this statement. What bearing will it have on my application? Yes I have savings -over the financial requirement and yes a student loan. Does this not leave me with an 'option to proceed?' according to you or UKBF guidelines, or do you write the guidelines now?

So have I got this right. Your reason for not recommending students to apply for a spouse visa is because they have no income and rely on savings, and being a student has a great bearing on the case? so, if the savings are sufficient why wouldn't you recommend they apply for visa and what would the great bearing on the case be. You also say you provided me with immigration laws and scenarios but I could find none which related to students who had cash savings.

Sammy, the different types of visas are intended for people in different situations. Spousal visas are meant for married adults with sufficient income to support themselves, while student visas are meant for young people studying in another country while being supported by family or scholarships.

The reason you cannot find laws relating to students on spousal visas is that spousal visas are not intended for students. Does that make sense?

Because you are a full-time student you have no regular income, and proof of regular income is one of the requirements for the visa you are seeking. While it is good that you have savings, that is not enough.

Anya, My spouse and I are a married couple with sufficient means to support ourselves. Just because I am a student does that mean the 65 k in my bank is different than if i wasn't a student. Also if the financial requirement is met entirely by savings other income is not required.

Hi there I was wondering if anyone can help I'm marrying my turkish fiancée in istanbul this year, I know the rules have changed and an affidavit is needed now, do I need to complete the affidavit in the uk or if I printed it out can I swear it in the British consulate in istanbul as I'm going to istanbul in April and if I could have everything sorted there I'm sure it would be easier. Any information would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance.

take Marmaris , you can have your wedding on a boat cruise at night with all your beloveds , my cousin get married that way . we were like 12 people , we had nice music and food on the boat with drinks. Afer the wedding we hit to the bar street .

Your hotel will help you find a translator that is recognised by the Noter. In fact many have offices very close to the Noter ) I suggest you ask your hotel where the nearest Noter's office is and be guided from there. Here's a link to all the Noter Offices in Fatih http://www.noterler.net/fatih_noterler.html

As for AirBnB - read the reviews left by people that have stayed at the accommodation you are interested in.

@mozak
The only problem this time in staying with Airbnb is that you will be one your own at a time when you need help and support.
A hotel maybe able to offer more services than am Air bnb host.
You most definatly will be able to translate your fiancees documents in Istanbul.

@ mozak
Firstly foreigners marrying in Turkey is the same process as Turks marrying.
So they should know the process there is a notaires office very near the Amber Hotel.
You need to get your document stating your free to marry from the Indian Embassy.
Where is your fiancee ? Has she arrived yet.